Pre-departure
We are not far from departure now! After a couple of brief overnight sails along the Channel from Plymouth to Cowes and back, Atlantis is now back in Plymouth. We will slip from Plymouth in the week beginning 13th May and head via the west coast toward our Svalbard destination. In the meantime, we have been engaged in a frenzy of last minute preparations; in particular, servicing safety equipment to ensure that, in the unlikely event that we need to use it, everything works as it should. Thanks are due to Andy Cassells and the team at Ratsey & Lapthorn for our new working and storm jibs, to Austin Brierley in Cowes for assistance installing a new battery charger and many others. Achieving our impending departure deadline has though, in no small part, been thanks to the extraordinary response and support of all the staff at Ocean Safety whose outstanding service has got us back on track after it appeared that we might fall behind.